


Clockwork

by TastesLikeSTFU



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hannibal Kinkmeme, Insomnia, Nightmares, Prompt Fill, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-20
Updated: 2013-10-20
Packaged: 2017-12-29 22:17:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1010758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TastesLikeSTFU/pseuds/TastesLikeSTFU
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the prompt: "Hannibal talks to Will through his suicide".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clockwork

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. Thought I'd publish something because I haven't in a while.
> 
> For those of you following my multi-chapter story "When You're On Your Own", I'd like to apologize. College is a lot harder and more time consuming than I thought it would be and it's currently kicking my ass.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Full prompt can be found at the end notes.

It is only convenient that Hannibal is up this late. Or this early if one thinks about it from a different angle.  
Three in the morning and Hannibal can't sleep. Dreams of dear Mischa still plague him sometimes. So he is awake, sitting at his desk in his pyjamas, working on a drawing of a beach house he once rented in Nice, France.  
The landline telephone resting on the corner of his desk begins to ring. There are only five people with his home number. Alana Bloom, Bedilia DuMaurier,and Will Graham are three of them. Hannibal lays down his pencil and picks up the phone.

"Hello?"

_"Hannibal."_

"Will. Not that I don't enjoy talking with you, but why the call so late?"

 _"I- I had a nightmare. It shook me pretty badly and I was wondering if- if you would-."_ Will cuts off, his uncertainty palpable over the slightly tinny line.

"You were wondering?" Hannibal prompts gently after almost a minute of silence.

_"I just took my sleeping pills and I was w-wondering if you'd talk to me until I fall asleep. Please? It- I- it feels like there are monsters in my head, still."_

"Of course. I will always indulge you, Will."  
Will only hums in response.

Hannibal begins with the first thing that comes to mind- Freud. (And isn't that almost ironic in a way?)

He speaks of Freud's defunct ideas, the way the public either gobbled them up or ignored them entirely. He eventually speaks of the Oedipus theory in relation to one of Will's previous cases. Which leads him on a short tangent into ancient Greek and Roman playwrights, the geniuses behind some of the most commonly used theater motifs today.  
Will interrupts every once in a while to ask a question, or react to something Hannibal has said. But after 30 minutes, Will grows quiet.

"Are you still awake, Will?" Hannibal asks, having stopped once he noticed the relative silence on the other end of the line. It takes a few moments for the response to come and when it does, it is soft, syllibant, and runs together.

_"'Annibal, do you think dogs go to heaven? Do you think they believe in God?"_

"I think dogs follow their masters wherever they choose to go. I think dogs believe whatever their masters believe."

_"They're loyal. I've got a lot of dogs. They like me, maybe. Or they like that I feed them. Will you take care of my dogs, 'Annibal?"_

"Yes. I can do that."

There is a half-conscious murmur and a long breath into the phone that eventually peters out.

"Goodnight, dear Will. Sleep well." Hannibal says. The other man doesn't know anything has been said at all.

Hannibal sets the phone in the receiver. He has no wish to hear Will die, to hear his body reject the sleeping pills, even while the man, himself, is unaware.  
He picks up his pencil and resumes the piece he was working on not too long ago.

**Author's Note:**

> http://hannibalkink.dreamwidth.org/3166.html?thread=5946206#cmt5946206
> 
> "Hannibal gets a phone call from Will late at night, apologetically explaining his latest nightmare and he's just taken his sleeping pills, but it still feels like there are monsters in his head, and could Hannibal please speak with him until he falls asleep?
> 
> As they talk, it's not until Will's speech becomes slurred instead of soft, and his breathing labored instead of peaceful, that Hannibal realizes Will doesn't intend to wake up after he falls asleep."
> 
> _Additionally, if you should meet the actors, writers, creator, or anyone involved with the show/book/movie this fanfiction is about, please do not inform them, encourage them to read, or make them read this unless you have explained to me in detail why you want to expose them to my writing and have received my explicit permission to do so._


End file.
